Display tray

ABSTRACT

An open topped tray is provided having a double thickness rear wall. A portion of the outer layer of paperboard is cut to provide a display panel hinged to the remainder of this layer along a fold line spaced from the top of the rear wall. Ears are provided integral with the display panel and which, upon pivotal movement of the display panel, temporarily flex the layers apart. These ears hold the display panel either in the plane of the outer layer, or projecting above the top of the rear wall.

I United States Patent [151 3,674,133

Locke 1 July 4, 1972 [54] DISPLAY TRAY 1,932,429 10/1933 Wellman.... 2,136,797 11/1938 Lee [72] Inventor. Frank W. Locke, Mmneapohs, Minn. 2,260,428 10/194] Barr et a], n [73] Assignee: lloerner Waldorf Corporation, Ramsey 2,304,758 12/1942 Botham ..206/45.13 X

County, Minn. D T Primary Examineravis .Moorhead [22] led: 18, 1971 AttameyRobert M. Dunning [21] Appl. No.: 107,123

[57] ABSTRACT 52 U.S.Cl. ..206/44, 229/16 D 229/32 Open PP tray is Pwvided having a double thickness 40/312 rear wall. A portion of the outer layer of paperboard is cut to 511 Int. Cl ..B65d 5/52 Pmide a display Panel hinged to the remainder of this layer [58] Field of Search 229/32 16 206/45 13 45 l7 along a fold line spaced from the top of the rear wall. Ears are 2 5 4 provided integral with the display panel and which, upon pivotal movement of the display panel, temporarily flex the [56] References Cited layers apart. These ears hold the display panel either in the plane of the outer layer, or projecting above the top of the rear UNITED STATES PATENTS walll,398,154 11/1921 Reid ..229/16 D 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PKTENTEDJUL 4 1972 INVENTOR FRANK W LOCKE ATTORNEY DISPLAY TRAY This invention relates to an improvement in display trays, and deals particularly with an open topped tray used for containing cartons, cans, and similar products, and which includes a display panel which may be used to identify the goods, designate the price and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Cans, cartons and the like are now often shipped in containers which may be divided to form a display tray for containing the goods, or in paperboard trays which are overwrapped with plastic film or the like so that they may be handled as a unit. One of the difficulties with such structures lies in the fact that the cartons, cans, or other contents must serve as the display due to the fact that the only display area is usually the shallow front edge of the tray. While the sides of the tray may taper to the full height of the goods, these sides are usually not visible when the trays are placed on shelves in side-by-side relation. Thus, while the use of trays greatly speeds up the operation of stacking the product for display, it is often difficult to distinguish one product from another. This is particularly true where the producer adopts a conventional overall design for a series of products, making it difficult to distinguish between one product and another.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A purpose of the present invention resides in the provision of a tray having a rear wall which is of double thickness. A display panel is cut from the rearmost panel and is hingedly connected to the rear panel along a fold line generally parallel to and spaced from the upper edge of the rear wall. Ears are provided which project upwardly beyond the fold line, the ears being integral with the display panel. The arrangement is such that the display panel may be swung rearwardly and upwardly through an angle of substantially I80, during which pivoting the ears frictionally engage the inner ply of the rear wall to resist the folding action. The cars project upwardly beyond the fold line when the display panel is coplanar with the remainder of the rear wall. However, when the display panel is pivoted upwardly through 180, the ears engage portions of the rear wall below the fold line, and assist in holding the display panel erect.

A feature of the present invention lies in the provision of the tray of the type described in which the rear wall of the tray is formed by corner flaps hingedly connected to the rear edges of the side walls, and by a rear wall panel which is hinged to the bottom panel of the tray. The comer flaps are connected to the rear panel in locations only outwardly of the display panel while at least portions of the display panel lie outwardly of the comer flaps. As a result, the ears projecting from the display panel tend to flex portions of the corner flaps inwardly, or flex the rear wall outwardly during pivotal movement from one extreme position to the other.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provisions of ears which extend laterally beyond the sides of the display panel, and project upwardly beyond the hinge line a distance greater than the downward projection of these ears. As a result, when the display panel is swung upwardly through 180, portions of the tongues engage the outer surface of the rear wall to hold the display panel in substantially vertical position.

An added feature of the present invention resides in the fact that the display trays may be stacked one upon another after the display panels have been swung upwardly into display position. This is important because of the fact that trays of product of the type in question are often stacked one upon the other on shelves of the supermarket or the like. After the product and the top tray has been depleted, the empty tray is discarded to provide access to the contents of the second tray. This may be done by the customer. Unless the display panel of the tray beneath the depleted tray was previously erected, it would not be visible after the top tray had been removed. In

the present structure, the display panel folds outwardly of the rear wall of the tray so that the trays may be accurately stacked one upon the other with the display panel in erected position.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the fact that the display panel may be printed simultaneously with copy printed on the side and front panel of the tray. While the printing on the display panel faces rearwardly when the display is shipped, it is folded through and faces forwardly when in its directed position. This is important as the cost of printing the display is normally considerably increased if both the sides of the paperboard must be printed.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates the erected tray in display position.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the display tray with the display panel in raised position.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view through the tray, the position of the section being indicated by the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view through the rear panel of the tray, the position of the tray being indicated by the line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the tray is formed.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged detail or one of the display panel positioning ears.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The tray A is of a type designed for machine set up. In other words, it is formed and glued in its set up form. As indicated in FIG. 5 of the drawings, the tray includes a bottom panel 10 which is foldably connected along parallel fold lines 11 to side walls [2. In the particular arrangement the upper edges of the side walls 12 include short parallel horizontal portions '13, and upwardly and downwardly inclined forward portions 14, so that the forward edges of the side wall are defined by the aligned fold lines 15 relatively low to display the product B. Comer flaps 16 are connected to the forward ends of the side walls 12 along the fold lines 15.

The bottom panel is connected along a fold line 17 to a front panel 19 which is of a height substantially equal to the height of the forward ends of the side walls 12. The rear ends of the side walls 12 are connected along aligned fold lines 20 to corner flaps 21. In the arrangement illustrated, the corner flaps 21 are of a length substantially equal to one half the width of the bottom panel 10 so that these flaps end in end abutting relation as indicated in FIG. 1 of the drawings.

The rear end of the bottom panel 10 is connected along a fold line 22 to the rear wall panel 23. The panel 23 is equal in height to the rear ends of the side walls 21. A display panel 24 is formed in and cut from the rear panel 23 and is connected thereto by a fold line 25 which is parallel to, and spaced from, the upper edge 26 of the rear wall 23. The sides and free ends of the panel 24 are defined by a generally U-shaped cut line which includes parallel sides 27 and a connecting bottom portion 29 which extends along the fold line 22. Ears 30 integral with the display panel 24 connect the ends of the parallel fold lines 27 to the ends of the fold line 25. The ears are similar, but opposed, and one ear is shown in detail in FIG. 6.

The ears 30 are defined by a series of angularly related cut line portions. Parallel cut line portions 34 which are spaced outwardly from the cut lines 27 are provided which intersect a projection of the fold line 25. As shown in FIG. 6, the lower ends of the cut lines 34 are connected to the upper ends of the cut lines 27 by outwardly extending oflset cut line portions 35 slightly below the projection of the fold line 25. Aligned out line portions 36 extend inwardly from the upper ends of the cut lines 34, intersecting an upward projection of the cut lines 27. Downwardly and inwardly inclined cut line portions 37 connect the inner ends of the aligned cut line portions 36 to the corresponding end of the fold, line 25. The cut line portions 36 are between the level of the fold line 25 and the upper edges 26 of the rear panel 23, and are at a greater distance above the fold line 25 than the offsets 35 are below the fold line. Alternatively, the upper ends of the ears 30 could be rounded. A generally U-shaped notch 39 is provided in the bottom panel adjoining the display panel 24 to simplify the grasping of the lower edge of the display panel.

The tray is set up by folding the side walls 12 upwardly, folding the comer flaps l6 inwardly into a common plane, and adhering the ends of the front panel to the forward surfaces of the comer flaps 16. The comer flaps 21 are folded into edge abutting relation, and the rear wall panel 23 is folded upwardly. The rear wall panel 23 is adhered to the corner flaps 21 along lines of adhesive 40 outwardly of the display panel and near the side edges of the rear panel.

The product B is normally substantially co-extensive in height with the height of the rear wall 23. The product is normally shipped in the tray and may be contained in a master container, or may be overwrapped with film. When the tray A is to be used, the display panel 24 is grasped and swung upwardly through an angle of 180 degrees into the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings. During this operation, the ears tend to separate the rear wall panel 23 from the corner flaps 2], usually by bowing outwardly the central. portion of the rear panel 23 which is between the display panel and the upper panel edge 26. When completely folded, the ears 30 engage the portions of the rear wall 23 beneath the offsets 35, and hold the display panel in erect position. The display panel may be folded down in the same manner if it is so desired. As the display panel 24 is rearwardly of the rear wall 23 when in elevated position, the trays may be readily stacked one upon another with the display panel in an elevated position.

ln accordance with the patent statutes 1 have described the principles of construction and operation of my DISPLAY TRAY, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

L'A display tray including:

a bottom panel,

side walls extending upwardly from opposite sides of said bottom panel,

a rear wall extending upwardly from a third edge of said bottom panel,

comer flaps hinged to the rear edges of said side walls and secured in face contact with said rear wall,

a display panel defined by a generally U-shaped cut line in said rear panel and connected to said rear panel along a fold line parallel to and spaced from the top of the rear wall, and

projecting ear means integral with said display panel and extending beyond said fold line, said ear means bearing against said comer flaps as said display panel is hinged about said fold lines to resist folding thereof.

2. The structure of claim 1 and in which said comer flaps extend into edge abutting relation.

3. The structure of claim 1 and in which said comer flaps are secured to said rear wall only along areas outwardly of said display panel.

4. The structure of claim 1 and in which said display panel extends to the line of fold connecting said rear wall to said bottom panel.

5. The structure of claim 1 and in which said ear means comprise a pair of spaced ears.

6. The structure of claim 1 and in which said ear means extend laterally beyond said display panel on opposite sides thereof.

7. The structure of claim 6 and in which said ear means en gage outwardly of a portion of said rear wall when said display panel is swung about an ang le of substantially 

1. A display tray including: a bottom panel, side walls extending upwardly from opposite sides of said bottom panel, a rear wall extending upwardly from a third edge of said bottom panel, corner flaps hinged to the rear edges of said side walls and secured in face contact with said rear wall, a display panel defined by a generally U-shaped cut line in said rear panel aNd connected to said rear panel along a fold line parallel to and spaced from the top of the rear wall, and projecting ear means integral with said display panel and extending beyond said fold line, said ear means bearing against said corner flaps as said display panel is hinged about said fold lines to resist folding thereof.
 2. The structure of claim 1 and in which said corner flaps extend into edge abutting relation.
 3. The structure of claim 1 and in which said corner flaps are secured to said rear wall only along areas outwardly of said display panel.
 4. The structure of claim 1 and in which said display panel extends to the line of fold connecting said rear wall to said bottom panel.
 5. The structure of claim 1 and in which said ear means comprise a pair of spaced ears.
 6. The structure of claim 1 and in which said ear means extend laterally beyond said display panel on opposite sides thereof.
 7. The structure of claim 6 and in which said ear means engage outwardly of a portion of said rear wall when said display panel is swung about an angle of substantially 180*. 